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A scientific collaboration between the University of São Paulo (USP) in Ribeirão Preto, Brazil, and Clemente Estable Institute of Biological Research (IIBCE) in Montevideo, Uruguay, is experimenting with two new bacteria discovered in the Antarctic ten years ago, in order to verify the possibility of applications in healthcare, food processing and environmental rehabilitation. An article describing part of the results appeared in ACS Synthetic Biology, a publication of the [...]

Researchers at the University of São Paulo (USP) in Brazil have shown how protozoans of the genus Leishmania that cause leishmaniasis manipulate a protein that plays an essential role in the organism’s defense in order to continue to replicate, preventing the body from vanquishing the disease. The findings of the study reported in Nature Communications offer hope for the development of novel treatments for the disease. Some 30,000 new cases of leishmaniasis are notified [...]

A synthetic peptide inspired by molecules secreted by the probiotic bacterium Lactobacillus plantarum has presented promising antibacterial results within one hour in laboratory trials. An article published in a special issue of the journal Antibiotics highlights the compound. The study was led by Ilana Camargo, last author of the article, and conducted during the doctoral research of first author Gabriela Righetto at the Molecular Epidemiology and Microbiology Laboratory (LEMiMo) of the [...]

Despite its antioxidant effects and role in regulating sleep cycles, tests show melatonin can worsen inflammation of the intestine and impair the action of gut microbiota. The gut microbiome is important to health, helping control digestion and benefiting the immune system. An imbalance of unhealthy and healthy microbes in the intestines may contribute to weight gain, high blood sugar, above-normal cholesterol and other disorders. Melatonin is popularly known as the “sleep [...]

Researchers at the University of São Paulo (USP) in Brazil have shown for the first time that gestational obesity associated with infection by zika virus influences the placenta’s antiviral response, weakening the organ’s capacity to attack the pathogen and protect the foetus. The study was supported by FAPESP. Its results are reported in an article published in the journal Viruses. According to the authors, the findings underscore the importance of adequate antenatal [...]

Researchers at the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP) in Brazil have grown microalgae under controlled conditions in a laboratory in order to use their metabolites, especially lipids, with the prime purpose of producing biofuel. The study is reported in an article published in the journal Biomass Conversion and Biorefinery. “It’s also possible to extract protein and carbohydrates and use them as food, in addition to obtaining products that can be used in cosmetics, such as [...]

A daily dose of a strain of brewer’s yeast used to produce cachaça (distilled spirit made from fermented sugarcane juice) can act as a preventive against asthma, according to a Brazilian study involving male mice. The results of the study by researchers at the University of São Paulo (USP) and the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG) are reported in the journal Probiotics and Antimicrobial Proteins. Despite increasing interest in the use of probiotics to prevent [...]

Scientists in Brazil have successfully produced biogas from apple pomace, the pulpy residue remaining after the fruit has been crushed to extract its juice. An article describing the research by the team at at the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP) and the Federal University of the ABC (UFABC) in São Paulo state is published in the journal Biomass Conversion and Biorefinery. The key concept is that of the circular economy, a system of closed loops designed to reduce costs, recover [...]

The discovery of hundreds of previously unknown microbes in a Brazilian ecosystem could potentially form a basis for the development of biological substitutes for the chemical fertilizers used by farmers, especially those containing phosphorus. A study supported by São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) and reported in an article published in ISME Journal identified 522 genomes of archaea and bacteria associated with the roots and soil of two plant species native to the Brazilian [...]